Quinlan & Fabish: People Make the Difference

Back in 1959, fellow music educators George Quinlan and Tom Fabish joined forces and launched Quinlan & Fabish.

The goal was to assist and guide Chicago area school music programs and students and, nearly 60 years later, that fundamental philosophy remains the business’ defining characteristic.
Quinlan bought out Tom Fabish’s share in the retail operation in the late ‘60s and by the end of the next decade, son George Quinlan, Jr. was a full-time employee. Now fielding eight stores throughout three Midwest states, Quinlan & Fabish is a B&O retail powerhouse – respected by suppliers, fellow dealers, and consumers for both effective business practices and a genuine passion for music education and customer service.
George Quinlan, Sr. passed away in 2013 – mere months after becoming co-recipient of MMR’s Don Johnson Industry Service Award, along with his son – but the younger George has continued the tradition of excellence begun by his father. The company CEO (and still and active rep!) recently took the time to speak with MMR about his time with the family business and how the organization continues to serve its communities.

Can you talk about your own beginnings at Quinlan & Fabish?
George Quinlan Jr.: I joined my dad at QF full-time in 1979. We still have a couple folks in the company with longer tenure than me! After college, I had gathered some industry experience working at The Selmer Company in Elkhart and G. Leblanc Corp in Kenosha in their customer service and marketing departments. I gained a lot of great experience and made many lifelong connections with folks in the industry, too.

Can you talk about how your position within the company has evolved over the years?
I started as one of two school reps in the company working from a single store in Chicago. Since we had a pretty lean crew, we had the flexibility to try new things, learn valuable skills from travelling manufacture reps and our “elders,” manage inventory and purchasing, and share these ideas with each other. I leaned toward marketing and sales, trying to establish our company as a trusted partner in music education – a motto we still use today (“A Trusted Partner in Music Education since 1959”). As the company grew, my position evolved gradually but, I still visit several schools each week as a school rep. I believe “staying close to the customer” is vital in a business like ours that is dependent on relationship-based support from band & orchestra directors.

How many are currently employed by Quinlan & Fabish?
We have approximately 130 full-time staff, but the seasonal and part-time staff expands considerably during the peak seasons – spring and fall.

Can you describe the facilities at the eight stores?
We have a broad range of facility sizes (2,000-50,000 square feet) depending on the purpose of the location. The smaller stores are located in smaller towns and the surrounding schools in those regions, typically are served by a single school rep. By contrast, our largest facility in the South Western suburban Chicago area is home to 10 reps, a large percentage of our rental instrument inventory, a full-service (brass/woodwind/string) repair center with 25 technicians, accounting, marketing & administration, and most of our support services.

What are some of the key product lines you carry?
We proudly represent many of the leading manufacturers of band & orchestra instruments – most of the major brands, of course, but a few niche products and brands, too.

Would you talk more about your relationship with area schools and districts? What advice would you give to other, smaller MI retail operations looking to build and maintain connections with schools in their own towns?
Successful school music retailers realize their success is primarily dependent on the strength of the relationships they establish and nourish with local band & orchestra directors. You cannot buy your way, threaten your way, or trick your way into a trusting relationship. You can only do it the hard way – earn it. Be there and be supportive. Start with one teacher who is willing to give you a chance, earn that person’s trust, and work on gradually building a network of support based on the reliability and integrity you’ve established with that first customer. Note: We continue to service almost all the same school districts that we had in 1979 – the teachers have retired, but the relationship, when properly managed, continues.

Let’s talk about your lesson program. Do all eight locations offer instruction? 
We offer lessons in five locations. Our most important consideration is the quality of the instructor. Our goal is never to simply “fill the rooms.” We believe that the lesson program should enhance our reputation for quality and service, so we are very selective about who teaches at QF. 

Similar question, but with respect to repairs: How many on-staff technicians are there and how many instruments get serviced per year?
We have approximately 50 repair serviceman. Obviously, with a staff this large, our crew produces tens of thousands of individual instrument repairs each year. About 40 percent of their time is spent on school & retail customer repairs and the remainder on instruments requiring preparation and set up for rental and those customer rental instrument repairs covered under our maintenance plans.

To what extent do you feel that offering these “value added services” sets Quinlan & Fabish apart from the competition?
We work in highly competitive markets with many other good school music retailers. We believe it’s not what you do…it’s how you do it. All our competitors offer repair service, loaner instruments, school music delivery and pick-up via reps, et cetera. So, it’s not the services that set us apart, it’s the attention to detail, concern for customer satisfaction, and pride in knowing that schools rely on us for dependability and quality. We cannot let them down. People make the difference and we believe we have the best staff of reps, techs, and support staff in the industry.

How important is social media to your business?

We employ a limited amount of social media to market our company. We try to find a unique twist whenever possible. For example, for the last several years, in April we run a contest on Facebook primarily for band & orchestra directors to recognize the importance of their school rep. We ask them to complete the phrase: “I like my QF rep because…”
We have received very creative entries ranging from poems, songs, videos, et cetera all extolling the virtues of our school reps. (What a great confidence builder for any parents visiting our FB page!). The winners receive tandem custom-made bobble heads of themselves with their QF rep (they are hilarious). The rep also receives a set and one set goes into the QF Bobblehead Hall of Fame!

That sounds like a great social media campaign. Looking at the current market, what are your observations on the state of B&O in 2016?
The B&O market is always steady – often despite the economy. A good year might be up five percent and a bad year down five percent. If we continue to meet the expectations of our customers, we believe we can continue to grow at a nice, steady pace. We occasionally look for opportunities that stray – ever so slightly – from our focus. A few months ago, we opened a flute specialty shop, Windy City Flutes, in our Burr Ridge location to address professional level flutes for flute teachers and their advanced students.